Unconditional
by The Great and Powerful Ckik
Summary: Hey, Anya…' Gino said suddenly. I turned to look up at him, and he continued. 'What would it take to get you to hate me' I felt a smile tugging at the corners of my lips. 'I don’t think that’s possible, Gino.'" My 2nd fic for this pair! Please R&R!


It was late afternoon already; the July day that had started out humid and muggy had wound itself down to… tolerable. We were outside in the garden, enjoying the soothing sunlight while it lasted. Unconsciously, I wondered if the oranges would be ready for harvesting anytime soon.

Gino had spent the day at this orchard of ours, pulling weeds from the garden and making fun of Jeremiah. I had discarded that little pink cell phone of mine that I used to love so much. Well, discarded wasn't the right word- I still had it, so to speak, but it was packed away in the same box that held my old Knights of Round uniform.

The days seemed to go by slowly, now- at a pace that I could keep up with, but not so sluggishly that it would ever get boring here. I liked it here, and I liked this new life I had found.

"Anya!" Gino ran up to me, smiling with his hands clamped together, holding something inside of them. "Look at what I caught! What is it?"

He opened his cupped hands just enough that I could see a little tan-colored grasshopper sitting patiently, awaiting its release.

"That's a grasshopper," I informed him matter-of-factly.

"Wow. A grasshopper!" He looked down at it, and then back at me. "What do they do? These grasshoppers? Are they good?"

"They're cute, but they eat the plants." I told him, putting my small hands around his larger ones. "But the spiders eat them as food."

He opened his hands and the little grasshopper leaped into the air and floated down to the grass.

"This place is great," He smiled at me. "It really is. There's grasshoppers and spiders… and lots of oranges!" He glanced over at the house. "And there's one inside, too!"

"You can come again next week," I looked up at him.

"I already practically live here!" He laughed, and then looked up at the fading sky with a meaningful expression on his face. "This is a really great place. There's no war, and no fighting. Nobody barking commands at you through a headset…" He trailed off.

"You should stay, then," I whispered.

"Aww, I know! But I can't! Sometimes my dad needs me to help out. And they still need me in the Knights, even with the peace and everything."

I sighed and walked slowly back over to the little wooden bench in the middle of the garden.

"I'm sorry!" He smiled. "I really want to stay, you know that!"

I looked at him, and then smiled a little. "Really, it's okay. You come to visit almost every other day, anyway!"

He laughed a bit, and then sat down next to me on the little bench, and we talked until the sun finally started to set. After that, I had to drag him into the house. He wanted to watch the sunset, but it would only last a few minutes, anyway, with the hills and the trees blocking the view.

"Tomorrow," I promised.

"Okay," He finally gave up, and then glanced at the little house. He grinned his stupid grin and said "I'll race you back!" and then took off before I even answered him. Trying to catch up with him tired out, and I stumbled onto the porch. I tripped on the top step, but he caught me before I even figured out that I was falling.

"I won!" He smiled, and stood me back up.

Orange lifted up a nearby window, and peeked his head out.

"C'mon, you two," He laughed. "Sun's already down, and when the lights go out, so do the bugs." And with that, he ducked back into the house and slid the window shut.

---

"The first of the oranges are already ripe." Jeremiah told us as we all sat around the tiny dinner table.

"Awesome," Gino laughed as he took a bite of corn-on-the-cob (which we had bought from the farm next door). "That's means that I can come over and help pick oranges with you guys next week."

"That's right," I said, motioning to him with my spoon. "You couldn't visit during harvesting time last year."

"Last year…" He repeated…

"It really had been a whole year since the end of the war, hasn't it?" Orange mumbled. "Seems like so much longer, doesn't it?"

"Yeah. It really does." Gino looked over at the calendar that was posted up next to the fridge. "Maybe there are really some aliens messin' with our clocks, so that it seems like more time, even though it isn't it."

We all laughed at that.

Gino looked around, which he didn't often do.

"Everything is so orange here…" He mumbled.

"Yeah, especially that blue-haired guy sitting across the table," I joked.

"It is an Orange Farm," Jeremiah pointed out.

"So… it's an Orange-ard!" Gino laughed. "Like a combination of the words Orange and Orchard!"

"Eat your food, would you?" Orange smiled at him. "It's not that bad, is it?"

"No, it's good!" Gino took a big bite of roast beef. "Zee? Itsh good!"

"Don't talk with your mouth full," I nudged him with my elbow. "If you wouldn't talk so much, you'd be done eating already!"

Ironically, Jeremiah then got up with his plate and brought it over to the kitchen sink. "Not, too bad right? Sayoko is teaching me how to cook," He informed us as he walked back over to the table. Gino, meanwhile, was still stuffing his face with food like a moron. I giggled at his stupidity.

A few minutes later, that idiot finally stopped eating and slumped back in his chair. "It was pretty good. Much better than the slop they gave us at that commoner's school, right? And better than the meals at the Knights of Rounds, too."

"It's because he cooks it by hand- it's not all mass-produced, generic meals." I informed him, putting my plate on top of his now-empty one, and carrying them out to the sink.

Jeremiah had already stalked over to his armchair to read a book. I didn't manage to catch a glimpse of the title.

Gino plopped himself down on the couch, yawning.

"Today was a good day," He sighed.

"Everyday is like that, here," I sat down next to him, cuddling up between his shoulder and the arm of the couch.

"Heh heh. You're so much happier, now!" He grinned, and then looked over at Jeremiah. "You, too, Orange! You're happy!"

"I'd be happier if you'd let me read my book," He laughed.

It was silent for a few minutes, and then Orange slapped his book closed and stood up. (Cyborgs must be able to read fast or something!) I looked at him, and he set his novel down on the coffee between the couch and his chair.

"Don't stay up too late, okay?" He smiled as he headed up the stairs to his room. "We have some fruit to pick, tomorrow."

Gino yawned and nodded. "Yeah. We hear ya, Orange."

Jeremiah disappeared up the staircase, and the silence resumed after he shut his door (probably trying to be quiet, but…).

"Hey, Anya…" Gino said suddenly. I turned to look up at him, and he continued. "What would it take to get you to hate me?"

I felt a smile tugging at the corners of my lips. "I don't think that's possible, Gino. I could never hate you."

He smiled at me. "I know. I was kidding!"

"You're such a dork," I said, punching him in the arm.

He laughed at that, too. He just laughs at everything. Suddenly, his face turned all serious, even though it still looked kind of silly.

"I figured it out!" He jumped up off the couch.

"Figured what out?" I looked at him like he was crazy. (Who am I kidding? He IS crazy!)

"I figured out why grasshoppers are called… grasshoppers…!" He said in a dramatic tone. "Because they hop… in the grass!!" He jumped up and down. " Right? Right?"

I laughed quietly. "You just figured that out?"

"Well? Impressive aren't I? My intellectual skills? Of awesomeness?"

"Yeah. Very impressive," I giggled.

He started tiptoeing over to Jeremiah's empty armchair, whispering "Let's see if he notices…"

He sat down quietly and waited a moment.

"GET OFF MY CHAIR!" Jeremiah ran from his room to the edge of the stairs.

"Eep!" Gino jumped up and fell forward. (Flat on his face, may I add…)

"You thought I wouldn't notice," Orange said smugly. "You were dead wrong, blondie."

"It's like the force," I joked. "He can sense disturbances in the chair."

"Heh heh. Yeah. Looks like it," Gino said, standing back up and straightening out his tee-shirt.

Jeremiah proceeded back to his room, but then suddenly peeked around the corner. "Always watching. Don't even try it," He smiled, and then disappeared back around to his room.

I laughed. "Smart move."

"Heh. Guess I'm not trying that again!" Gino plopped himself back down on the couch like before, yawning loudly. "Maybe I should get to sleep soon."

"You'll need a lot of sleep. More work to do tomorrow."

"It's fun for work," He smiled softly, not his usual childish grin, and then yawned again, starting to nod off to sleep.

"I'm gonna head up to my room, okay?" I told him softly. "Get some sleep."

"Yeah," He laughed once, softly. "G'night, Anya."

I took the blanket off the back of the couch and pulled it over him, hugging him gently. "Yeah. See you in the morning."

I walked to the switch plate, next to the fireplace, and flicked off the light. The warmth and light from the fire glowed gently, making soft shadows on the walls.

I walked over to the couch again, for a second. Gino was still sitting up, not yet asleep. (Knowing him, he would fall over soon enough)

I gently kissed him on the forehead, brushing back his messy, golden hair. "Love you, Gino," I whispered.

"Love you, too," He murmured, and I hurried up the stairs.

Today was a good day.

* * *

**Author's Notes:  
There are two writers on who have written more than one fic for this pairing.  
Those two writers would be myself and the wonderful Koa-chan.  
This pair has an almost nonexistent fanbase!  
If you are part of said fanbase, you should write, too!  
Not a good writer? Send me your ideas!  
Now then, I hope you enjoyed this cute post-R2 fluff.  
Next up: Cute AU fluff! 'Till then!  
Disclaimer: You know the deal! I don't own Code Geass or any of its characters.  
I do, however, own the corn on the cob.  
So... ha!**


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